Northwest Festival Watch – June 2015

As we begin to wean you off all-day venue crawls and slowly on to the idea of going outside, June offers events you can dip your toe into without going full-blown rented-a-luxury-yurt took-out-a-third-loan festival-season mad. (NB: this will commence in July.)

Parklife (6-7 Jun) and Africa Oyé (20-21 Jun) are the significant outdoorsy dates on the Northwest calendar this month, though we wager you couldn't find two more different festivals in terms of mood. For big names, bigger drops and a tedious week at work in the immediate aftermath, you'll have probably already booked yourself tickets to Parklife (feat. Grace Jones, Caribou, HudMo); for feelgood neighbourhood vibes, you can't beat Oyé. The UK's biggest free festival of African music and culture, it's got great acts (Omar, BKO Quintet, Frankie Paul), a proper community atmosphere with free dance and music workshops, and one of our favourite DJs in Esa (read our interview with him on page 46).

Making up the music element of this year's Liverpool Arab Arts Festival (6-14 Jun) are Palestinian singer Reem Kelani, set to appear in the stunning Concert Room of St. George's Hall on 12 Jun (7.30pm, £15 (£10)), and Simona Abdallah, who will be leading a drumming workshop at the Bluecoat on 14 Jun (2.50pm, free). Abdellah plays the darbuka, or 'goblet drum'; having taught herself as a teenager, she is now one of the only few women to play the instrument professionally.

Planning ahead, the time is almost upon us for Manchester International Festival (2-19 Jul) – and while you'll have to be eagle-eyed for any final releases of tickets for the likes of FKA twigs and Bjork, it's still possible to book for a number of exclusive shows (remember: everything's a world premiere). The contemporary classical strand is looking tempting, with the debut of clarinettist and composer Mark Simpson's new piece The Immortal to take place at The Bridgewater Hall (4 Jul), and Arvo Pärt coming to Manchester for the first time – for a collaboration with Gerhard Richter at the Whitworth Art Gallery (various dates), and for an evening of his music at The Bridgewater Hall co-curated with Manchester Camerata director Gábor Takács-Nagy (12 Jul). The Warehouse Project-curated 12-hour rave at Mayfield Depot, meanwhile – they're calling it 10x10 – features witty weirdo DJ Koze, a usually punishing Maurice Fulton and the aerated electronics of Midland (18 Jul). Additionally, Kieran Hebden aka Four Tet appears with Tyondai Braxton and Koreless at the same venue on 17 Jul.

Last but not least, it's the first foray into festival-ing for Whitworth Young Contemporaries, who on 11 Jun host an afternoon of live arts activities and performances, from circus skills to spoken word, all for free (Whitworth Art Gallery, 5-9pm).